This proposal requests five-year support for a symposium entitled "Recent Advances in the Immunology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Tropical Diseases". The first symposium of this series will be held at Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday and Tuesday, April 2-3, 2001, and will be entitled "Molecular Biology of Tropical Diseases International Health". The goals of these symposia are threefold: 1. To increase the opportunity for interaction among scientists investigating various organisms which cause tropical diseases. Immunologists, biochemists, molecular biologists and cell biologist come together to discuss recent advances in their area and consider future directions of research. 2. To continue to attract minority students from historically black colleges and universities to Meharry Medical College in order to simulate their interest in research in the biomedical sciences as well as in various areas of tropical diseases. 3. To provide a forum for discussion of Tropical Diseases and International Health and the role minority scientists can play in this effort. The symposia will be sponsored by the Division of Sponsored Research, School of Graduate Studies and Research and the Department of Microbiology at Meharry Medical College. As part of this conference, undergraduate and graduate students from historically black colleges and universities will be encouraged to attend and present posters on research that they are undertaking in various laboratories and discuss ongoing research at our institution. The symposium will include six invited lecturers in various areas in tropical diseases covering areas such as African trypanosomiasis, schistosomiasis, malaria, leishmaniasis, leprosy, and Chagas disease. Ample time will be available for discussions.